The Maritime Administration’s mission is to improve and strengthen the U.S. marine transportation system to meet the economic, environmental and security needs of the Nation.

David T. Matsuda was sworn as the Maritime Administrator on June 25, 2010. He has been the Acting Maritime Administrator since being appointed Deputy Maritime Administrator by President Obama on July 28, 2009.

Mr. Matsuda served as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy from March 2009 until his appointment as Deputy. Prior to that, he spent seven years on Capitol Hill. While working in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Matsuda was engaged in the formulation and debate of most major Federal transportation legislation as senior counsel and primary transportation advisor to U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey.

In 2002, Mr. Matsuda became a Georgetown University Government Affairs Institute Fellow serving on the staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. From 1998 to 2002, he worked as an attorney with the safety law division of the USDOT’s Federal Railroad Administration.

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Mr. Matsuda’s hometown is Apple Valley, California. He earned his B.S. in engineering from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA, and his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in San Diego, CA. He lives with his wife Catherine Parsons Matsuda in Washington, DC

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